Site Search

Upper Deck Vault Loses Nearly $4 Million Thanks to Settlement

By
Paul Lesko |
Dec 05, 2011

On November 30, 2011, the United States District Court in Nevada entered judgment in favor of anime company, Aniplex, Incorporated and against Upper Deck over a breach of contract action having to do with the “Kiba" animated series.

Legal translation: Although this judgement isn't specifically about trading cards, it does, however, involve Upper Deck. They're proving once again they're having one heck of a legal year. Let's just say this instance is a business deal gone bad.

What we do care about is that judgment was entered pursuant to a settlement (Legal translation: the parties reached a resolution, so the court dismissed the case). As part of the settlement, Upper Deck was required to pay Aniplex $3,950,000. Yes, a hair under $4 million.

Yikes.

Of note, the payment was also personally guaranteed by Richard McWilliam.

Legal translation: If Upper Deck goes out of business, Mr. McWilliam would pick up the tab.

The information provided in Paul Lesko's “Law of Cards" column is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues commonly encountered in the sports industry. This information is not intended to create any legal relationship between Paul Lesko, the Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC or any attorney and the user. Neither the transmission nor receipt of these website materials will create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the readers.

The views expressed in the “Law of Cards" column are solely those of the author and are not affiliated with the Simmons Law Firm. You should not act or rely on any information in the “Law of Cards" column without seeking the advice of an attorney. The determination of whether you need legal services and your choice of a lawyer are very important matters that should not be based on websites or advertisements.

Paul Lesko | E-Mail | URL
Paul Lesko is a shareholder at Simmons Hanly Conroy and the chair of its Intellectual Property Department (http://www.simmonsfirm.com). Don’t hold the fact that Paul is a lawyer against him, he’s also a rabid baseball and college basketball fan, and an avid baseball card collector. Paul can be found on Twitter @Paul_Lesko and Google+.